Recent Results from Tests on the Republic Geothermal Wells at East Mesa, California

Abstract

The East Mesa KGRA (Known Geothermal Resource Area) is located in the Imperial Valley of Southern California close to the Mexican border. Republic Geothermal Inc. has leased lands in the northern part of the geothermal anomaly and has so far drilled six wells, ranging in depth from 7,400 to 9,100 feet. Current plans of Republic include construction of a 50 MW power plant based on the resource. Crucial to the success of this venture is a proper understanding of the physical properties of the geothermal reservoir tapped by the wells. Towards the south, the geothermal anomaly is being explored and assessed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (5 wells) and the Magma Power Co. ( 3 wells).

In order to achieve a proper understanding of the resource at East Mesa, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory collaborated with Republic in conducting a series of three well tests. These included production, injection and interference tests with durations varying from a few days to several weeks and yielded valuable information on reservoir parameters as well as geometry. The purpose of this presentation is to summarize the important findings from the tests. lar, attention will be restricted to the production-interference tests. The results of injection tests are outside the scope of this presentation.